THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502020012
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
I would like to express my deep concern about plans to reduce funding for a wide range of government programs, foremost among them higher education.
As an assistant professor at one of the state-supported research universities in Virginia (Old Dominion University), I have experienced first-hand the difficulties and constraints on the education of our students imposed by previous budget cuts. If the additional cuts contained in Governor Allen's budget proposals were to be implemented, the continued excellence of Virginia's system of higher education would be jeopardized.
In his State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Allen named education as one of the three essential goals of government. Yet Virginia has continuously slipped in its support for higher education, and now ranks 43rd in the nation.
While some of the budget cuts in the past could be absorbed by restructuring and eliminating nonessential services, this avenue has now reached its limits. Further cuts can be implemented only by destroying academic programs or condemning them to mediocrity. Once the culture of high achievement, faculty expertise and innovative learning and research have been destroyed, it will take many years to reverse this result. Old Dominion University is in a particularly precarious situation since it receives by far the lowest amount of state support per in-state student of all doctoral institutions in Virginia.
I hope that the state legislature will restore adequate funding to the colleges and universities of Virginia. This is important not only to keep a world-class education accessible to all citizens of this state, but also to preserve the foundation on which economic success of the future rests. I believe that the voters in this state will honor the common good over shortsighted ``bribes'' with tax cuts.
SEBASTIAN KUHN
Norfolk, Jan. 22, 1995 by CNB